Sheet feeding mechanism

ABSTRACT

A feeding mechanism comprising an accumulating area. A mechanism for feeding at least one sheet into the accumulating area. An exit mechanism and a mechanism for moving sheets from the accumulating area through the exit mechanism. The moving mean comprises a kicker mechanism at one end of the accumulating area mounted for reciproactable rotary movement to push a stack of sheets through said exit mechanism. A release gate mechanism is provided in front of a stack being accumulated in the accumulating area and mechanism is provided to activate and move the release gate out of the way to permit a stack of sheets to be moved out of the accumulating area.

BACKGROUND

[0001] The present invention relates to sheet feeding mechanisms andmore particularly to an improved sheet feeding mechanism foraccumulating and moving stacks of sheets.

[0002] In current sheet feeding mechanisms, sheets of paper are movedfrom one machine to another or from one portion of a machine to another.Various means are provided for feeding the paper sheets includingrollers, belts, etc. However, existing machines are not easily adaptedto feed sheets without recourse to moving belts, conveyors and otherconventional stack moving means.

OBJECTS

[0003] The present invention overcomes these difficulties and has forone of its objects the provision of an improved sheet feeding mechanismwhich accumulate and move stacks of sheets without the use of movingbelts, conveyors, etc.

[0004] Another object of the present invention is the provision of animproved sheet feeding mechanism which is simple to operate.

[0005] Another object of the present invention is the provision of animproved sheet feeding mechanism which is inexpensive to manufacture andto maintain.

[0006] Other and further objects of the invention will be obvious uponan understanding of the illustrative embodiment about to be described,or will be indicated in the appended claims and various advantages notreferred to herein will occur to one skilled in the art upon employmentof the invention in practice.

DRAWINGS

[0007] A preferred embodiment of the invention has been chosen forpurposes of illustration and description and is shown in theaccompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein:

[0008]FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a machine in which the presentinvention is used.

[0009]FIG. 2 is a top view thereof.

[0010]FIG. 3 is a schematic side elevational view showing the positionof some parts when feeding sheets of the longest lengths.

[0011]FIG. 4 is a schematic side elevational view showing the positionof some parts when feeding sheets of intermediate lengths.

[0012]FIG. 5 is a schematic side elevational view showing the positionof some parts when feeding sheets of the shortest length.

[0013]FIG. 6 is a schematic detailed side view showing the position ofsome of the parts to adjust the machine from feeding the longer sheetsto feeding the shortest sheets.

[0014]FIG. 7 is a side elevational view showing the positions of thedrive system when feeding the longest sheets.

[0015]FIG. 8. is a side elevational view showing the positions of thedrive system when feeding the shortest sheets.

[0016]FIG. 9 is a sectional view along line 9-9 of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION

[0017] Referring to the drawings, sheets of paper S are fed from asource (not shown) and are moved into the mechanism 1 by a plurality ofrotatable insert rollers IR mounted on power shafts 111 driven by powerpulley 37 and then moved out of the mechanism by exit roller ER whichare driven by power pulley 109. The mechanism 1 includes an accumulatingarea A which comprises a plurality of superimposed pairs of stationarycables 2-3, opposed side rails 21, opposed frame supports 5, a rear maindocument kicker 20 and a front release gate 30. In general, the sheets Sare fed by insert rollers IR through a mouth 4 and move between theplurality of superimposed pairs of stationary cables 2 and 3 and thepair of opposed side rails 21. A plurality of main first and second feedrollers 12 and 112, respectively, are mounted in front of mouth 4 andadjacent to the main document kicker 20. The feed rollers 12 and 112grasp the leading edge L of each sheet S as it passes through the mouth4 and move it forward until the sheet is deposited in the accumulatingarea A. When positioned in the accumulating area A the leading edge L ofeach sheet S is in back of the front release gate 30, which acts as astop for the sheets S, and the trailing edge T is in front of the maindocument kicker 20. When a sufficient number of sheets have accumulatedin a stack in the accumulating area A, a control mechanism (not shown)activates the movement of front release gate 30 and main document kicker20. The front release gate 30 is moved out of the way and the maindocument kicker 20 is swung forward to push the stack of sheets S out ofthe accumulating area A. The movement of the front release gate 30 andthe main document kicker 20 are synchronized and coordinated so thatwhen the main document kicker 20 is moved toward the front release gateis moved out of the path of a stack to permit a stack to move out of theaccumulating area. The exit rollers ER will grasp the leading edges L ofthe stack of sheets S and pull the stack out of the accumulating area Aas a unit.

[0018] The front release gate 30 is mounted on a transverse shaft 32which is reciprocated back and forth by a motor 31 so that the frontrelease gate 30 is moved from a raised position in the path of the stackof sheets S in the accumulating area A to a lowered position out of thepath of the stack of sheets S to permit the stack of sheets to moveforward out of the accumulating area A after which the front releasegate 30 is moved back to its raised position. The main document kicker20 is mounted on a transverse shaft 34 controlled by a motor 35 whichreciprocates the main document kicker 20 back and forth between a raisedposition in back of the stack to a forward position where it will strikethe trailing edge T of the stack of sheets S in the accumulating area Aand push the stack of sheets S forward toward and through the exitrollers ER after which the main document kicker 20 will be swung back toits original raised position. Movement of the release gate 30 and themain kicker 20 are synchronized and coordinated by a controller (notshown) so that when the main document kicker 20 is moved forward to pushthe stack of sheets S out of the accumulating area A, the release gate30 is swung down and out of the way to permit the stack of sheets S topass through.

[0019] A trolley assembly 22 is provided which is moveable back andforth relative to the frame supports 5 to permit the mechanism toprocess sheets of different lengths. The trolley assembly 22 comprises apair of opposed support plates 23 having a plurality of spaced pairs ofsuperimposed support rollers 24 extending therefrom, main documentkicker 20 mounted on shaft 34 controlled by motor 35, feed rollers 12and 112 mounted on shafts 6 and 9, respectively, and an auxiliarytransfer conveyor assembly 10 which will be described in greater detailhereinafter. The support rollers 24 of the trolley assembly 22 aremounted on and move along an elongated rail 25 which is mounted on eachof the frame supports 5. The frame supports 5 have spaced elongatedslots 26 and 27 to receive the shafts 6 and 9 of feed rollers 12 and 112which extend therethrough. The movement of the trolley assembly 22 froma rearward position (FIG. 3) where the longest sheets S are processedthrough an intermediate position (FIG. 4) where intermediate lengthsheets are processed to a forward position (FIG. 5) where the shortestsheets are processed will change the size of the accumulating area Afrom its greatest length (FIG. 3) through an intermediate length (FIG.4) to its shortest length (FIG. 5). The support plates 23 have springpressed lock pegs 28 mounted thereon and movable therewith. Each framesupport 5 has a lock bar 29 mounted thereon having a plurality of spacedlock openings 36 adapted to receive the lock pegs 28 and hold thetrolley assembly 22 in one of its many positions. When the trolleyassembly 22 is to be moved from one position to another, the lock pegs28 are raised and moved out of the lock opening 36 and after the trolleyassembly reaches a new position, the lock pegs 28 are inserted intoanother opening 36 in order to hold the trolley assembly 22 in thedesired new position.

[0020] The auxiliary conveyor assembly 10 which is adapted to move theshortest sheets (as will be more fully described hereinbelow) comprisesa plurality of spaced movable belts 11 driven by and wound around themain second feed rollers 112 (two shown in drawings) and front auxiliaryfeed rollers 13 which are mounted on shaft 14 supported by spacedsupport arms 15. The shaft 14 is mounted on the forward ends 7 of thespaced support arms 15 and the rear ends 8 of support arms 15 arepivotally mounted on a pivot shaft 16. The front auxiliary feed rollers13 and belts 11 are adapted to be lowered or raised around pivot shaft16. When lowered, belts 11 may ride on a pair of idler rollers 171.

[0021] In conjunction with the activation of the auxiliary conveyorassembly 10 to process the shortest sheets, an auxiliary document kicker17 is provided and is mounted on reciprocatable transverse shaft 18which is controlled by motor 118. The auxiliary document kicker 17 ismounted above the level of the accumulating area A, in front of theslots 26-27, spaced rearwardly from exit rollers ER and at the rear ofthe accumulating area A when it is at is shortest length. The auxiliarydocument kicker 17 is reciprocated back and forth by shaft 18 from araised position above the accumulating area A to a lowered position atthe rear of the shortened accumulating area A to push a stack of shortsheets deposited in shortened accumulating area A forward through theexit rollers ER. Its reciprocal movement is also synchronized withreciprocal movement of the front release gate 30 in a manner similar tothe synchronization of the main document kicker 20 with the release gate20.

[0022] A power train 19 controls the rotation of the various rollers andcomprises the stationary power pulley 37, a pair of spaced stationaryidler pulleys 38 and 39, and moveable drive pulleys 40 and 41 movablewith the trolley assembly 22. These pulleys 37 to 41 are located outsideone of the frame supports 5. Shafts 6 and 9 for feed rollers 12 and 112extend from drive pulleys 40 and 41 which are mounted on frame plates 5and extend through slots 26 and 27, respectively, so that they move withthe trolley assembly 22. The pulleys 37 to 41 are connected to eachother by an endless serpentine belt 42 which is wound around the variouspulleys 37-41 and which is driven from the stationary power pulley 37.The power shaft 111 for insert rollers IR extends from stationary powerpulley 37. As the trolley assembly 22 moves back and forth between itsrearward, intermediate and forward positions, the idler rollers 40-41,shafts 6-9 with feed rollers 12 and 112 will move with the trolleyassembly 22 while the other rollers 37-39 remain stationary. Hence, thelength of the endless serpentine belt 42 remains the same since thoseportions of the belt 42 which are shortened by the movement of thetrolley assembly 22 in one direction or the other are compensated for byother portions of the belt 42 which are lengthened by the same amount.

[0023] When sheets of the longest lengths are to be processed, thetrolley assembly 22 is moved to its rearmost position as shown in FIG.3. The auxiliary conveyor assembly 10 is in its raised position abovethe accumulating area. The lock pegs 28 are positioned in the rearmostlock opening 36. The insert rollers IR move the sheets S through themouth 4 and into the accumulating area A where the sheets S lie betweenthe plurality of superimposed cables 2-3, the side rails 21, the frontrelease gate 30 and the rear main document kicker 20. The feed rollers12 and 112 of the trolley assembly 22 will pick up the leading edges Lof the sheets S being fed and will hold the sheets S and move themforward until the sheets S are deposited in the accumulating area A.When a sufficient number of sheets S accumulate in the accumulating areaA, the front release gate 30 is swung to its lowered position out of theway of the stack and the rear main document kicker 20 is swung forwardto push the stack of sheets out of the accumulating area A and throughthe exit rollers ER.

[0024] When sheets of intermediate size are to be processed, the trolleyassembly 22 is moved to the intermediate position as shown in FIG. 4.The auxiliary conveyor assembly 10 remains in its raised position overthe accumulating area. The feed rollers 12 and 112 as well as the maindocument kicker 20 is also moved to this intermediate position as partof the trolley assembly 22. The locking pegs 28 have been moved out ofthe rearmost lock openings 36 and have now been inserted into theintermediate lock openings 36 to hold the trolley assembly 22 in theintermediate position. The drive shafts 6 and 9 of the feed rollers 12and 112 have also been moved forward along the slots 26-27. In thisposition, the accumulating area A is now shorter than it was when thelongest sheets were being processed (FIG. 3). When sheets are fed by theinsert rollers IR, the sheets are held by the insert rollers IR untilthe leading edges L of the sheets S are grasped by the feed rollers 12and 112 and are moved and deposited one by one into the now shortenedaccumulating area A in front of the main document kicker 20 and in backof the release gate 30. When a sufficient number of sheets areaccumulated in the accumulating area A, the release gate 30 is loweredand the main document kicker 20 is swung forward in order to push thestack of sheets out of the accumulating area A through the exit rollersER.

[0025] When the shortest sheets are to be processed, the sheets are tooshort for the input rollers IR and the main feed rollers 12 and 112 tocontinue to grasp the sheet S until the sheets are deposited into theaccumulating area A. In order to process sheets of the shortest length,the trolley assembly 22 is now moved to its forward most positioncarrying with it the auxiliary conveyor assembly 10, the feed rollers 12and 112 together with shafts 6 and 9 and the main document kicker 20(which does not act on the shortest sheets). The lock pegs 28 from theimmediate or rearmost lock openings 36, the trolley assembly 22 is moveddown to its foremost position and the lock pegs 28 are inserted into theforwardmost openings 36. The belts 11 and front auxiliary feed rollers13 of the auxiliary conveyor assembly 10 are lowered by moving arms 15down around pivot shaft 16 so that the auxiliary feed rollers 13 are nowin the path of the short sheets S being fed. When fed by insert rollersIR the leading edges of the sheets S are grasped by the feed rollers 12and 112 and the sheets are held until the front auxiliary feed rollers13 grasp the leading edge L of the sheets S. The sheets are controlledby the front auxiliary feed rollers 13 until they are deposited into theshortened accumulating area A in front of the auxiliary document pusher17 and behind the front release gate 30. When the stack is complete andis to be moved forward, the auxiliary document kicker 17 will swing downand forward to push the stack forward while the release gate 30 willmove out of the way to permit the sheets to be pushed through the exitrollers ER which will grasp the leading edge L of the stack of sheetsand move them out of the machine.

[0026] When longer sheets are again to be processed by the machine, theentire auxiliary transfer conveyor assembly 10 is raised around pivot 16and placed out of the way and the trolley assembly 22 is moved back tothe desired intermediate or rearmost position. Hence, the machine can beeasily and quickly be converted to feed either shorter sheets or longersheets.

[0027] It will thus be seen that the present invention provides animproved sheet feeding mechanism which can be easily and quickly to feedsheets without the use of moving belts, conveyors, etc. which is simpleto operate and which is inexpensive to manufacture and to maintain.

[0028] As many and varied modifications of the subject matter of thisinvention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from thedetailed description given herein above, it will be understood that thepresent invention is limited only as provided in the claims appendedhereto.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:
 1. A feeding mechanismcomprising an accumulating area, means for feeding at least one sheetinto said accumulating area, an exit mechanism, means for moving sheetsfrom said accumulating area through said exit mechanism, said movingmeans comprises a kicker mechanism at one end of the accumulating areamounted for reciprocatable rotary movement to push a stack of sheetsthrough said exit mechanism.
 2. A feeding mechanism as set forth inclaim 1, wherein said exit mechanism comprises exit rollers and whereina stack of sheets is adapted to pass between said exit rollers whenmoving through the exit mechanism.
 3. A feeding mechanism as set forthin claim 2, wherein said kicker mechanism is provided adjacent the rearof said accumulating area and wherein means are provided to activate thekicker mechanism to push a stack of sheets out of the accumulating area.4. A sheet feeding mechanism as set forth in claim 3 wherein said kickermechanism is mounted on a shaft which is adapted to swing the kickermechanism back and forth from a position behind a stack to a forwardposition to push a stack out of the accumulating area.
 5. A sheetfeeding mechanism as set forth in claim 4, wherein a release gatemechanism is provided in front of a stack being accumulated in saidaccumulating area and wherein means are provided to activate and movethe release gate out of the way to permit a stack of sheets to be movedout of the accumulating area.
 6. A sheet feeding mechanism as set forthin claim 5, wherein said release gate is mounted for reciprocatablerotary movement.
 7. A sheet feeding mechanism as set forth in claim 6,wherein said release gate is mounted on a shaft which is adapted toswing the release gate back and forth from a position in front of astack of sheets in the accumulating area to a position away from thefront of the accumulating area to allow a stack to move out of theaccumulating area.
 8. A sheet feeding mechanism as set forth in claim 7,wherein the reciprocatable rotary movement of the kicker and the releasegate mechanism are coordinated so that the kicker is moved forward whilethe release gate mechanism is moved away from the front of a stack inthe accumulating area and vice versa.
 9. A sheet feeding mechanism asset forth in claim 8, wherein said shafts are parallel to each other andspaced from each other
 10. A sheet feeding mechanism as set forth inclaim 9, wherein sheets accumulate between at least a pair ofsuperimposed cables.